SERAGLIO

harem, hareem, seraglio, serail

(noun) living quarters reserved for wives and concubines and female relatives in a Muslim household

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Noun

seraglio (plural seraglios)

The palace of the Grand Seignior in Constantinople.

The sequestered living quarters used by wives and concubines (odalisques) in a Turkish Muslim household.

A brothel or place of debauchery.

An interior cage or enclosed courtyard for keeping wild beasts.

Anagrams

• gasolier, gear oils, girasole

Source: Wiktionary

Se*ragl"io, n. Etym: [It. serraglio, originally, an inclosure of palisades, afterwards also, a palace, seraglio (by confusion with Per. sera\'8ba a palace, an entirely different word), fr. serrare to shut, fr. LL. serra a bar for fastening doors, L. sera. See Serry, Series.]

1. An inclosure; a place of separation. [Obs.] I went to the Ghetto, where the Jews dwell as in a suburb, by themselves. I passed by the piazza Judea, where their seraglio begins. Evelyn.

2. The palace of the Grand Seignior, or Turkish sultan, at Constantinople, inhabited by the sultan himself, and all the officers and dependents of his court. In it are also kept the females of the harem.

3. A harem; a place for keeping wives or concubines; sometimes, loosely, a place of licentious pleasure; a house of debauchery.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition